Autumnal Equinox

Thelema Lodge extends greetings of the Equinox to all Thelemites this
autumn as the Sun enters Libra at 11:00 on Sunday morning 22nd September.
Lodge members will gather in Horus Temple early that afternoon for a ritual in
observation of the balance of the year and the progress of our lodge community
at the close of this busy and productive summer. Frater Majnun will be
organizing the ritual, and can provide information ahead of time at (510) 601-
9393.

E. G. C.

Gnostic masses are offered by the members of Thelema Lodge each Sunday
evening in Horus Temple, beginning around nightfall. Communion at mass is
open to all whose will it is to join us in this celebration of the gnosis.
Members are encouraged to organize themselves into mass teams to serve as
officers, and should confer with the lodgemaster for a date on the temple
schedule when they are ready to reserve one.

Gnostic Bishop T Theodora has rescheduled her workshop on Cakes of Light
for Sunday afternoon 29th September. This open instruction on the practical,
magical, and ritual techniques involved in the talisman of the mass begins at
2:00 in the Horus temple kitchen, and will include cooking directions for
communion cakes, as well as advise for their traditional concoction, and a
review of E.G.C. policy with regard to the presentation of Cakes of Light at
public masses such as those held here at the lodge on Sunday evenings.

M M M

Initiations for advancement in Ordo Templi Orientis will be held on
Saturday afternoon 14th September. In order to attend, active initiate
members are requested to call ahead for details, including the time and the
degrees to be worked, and to let the initiation officers know how many to
expect at the ritual and feast.

Candidates for future initiation should obtain the necessary application
form, which can be requested at most lodge events, and return it completed to
the lodgemaster in time to await the mandatory forty-day period of candidacy
before the initiation can be scheduled. Candidates should maintain good
contact with the lodge during this probationary period as their initiation
approaches.

Classes & Events

Jnana is usually translated as "wisdom," or "knowledge;" it comes from the
same Indo-European root as the Greek word gnosis and the English word know. Jnanayoga (union through knowledge) emerges from the Hindu tradition called
advaita vedanta, which derives from the work of Shankara, an early ninth
century philosopher who described the "ultimate non-reality of all
distinctions." Its practice is said to be the most direct path to that state
which is often referred to as enlightenment, liberation, union with god, or
nirvana. On Thursday evening 26th September at 8:00 Yogi Chitsatananda will
visit Thelema Lodge to demonstrate, lecture on, and lead a group investigation
of jnanayoga. There is a particular modern tradition of this type of yoga,
often called "self-inquiry," which originated in southern India in 1896 with a
seventeen-year-old Tamil boy named Venkataraman. His story, along with some
details of the practice he taught, will be given from a Thelemite perspective,
and then the evening will end with a period of open discussion. All sincere
seekers after arcane knowledge are welcome to attend, though the yogi also
notes that it is entirely appropriate for sadhakas (spiritual aspirants) to bring various little bribes (e.g. flowers, sweets, small donations, etc.) to
attempt, however vainly, to buy his favor.

Grace's series on the houses of the horoscope with her Thelema Lodge
Astrology Study Group meets at the Palace of Astrology in Berkeley on Friday
evening 27th September at 7:00. The central topic of this meeting will be
Fourth House issues. These concern our basic roots, our country of origin,
our home and family -- in essence, that which gives us a sense of security.
Father/mother issues often surface here, and it is here that we delve into the
depths of our being to find the "hidden treasure" that releases us from
bondage. To attend, please call ahead at (510) 843-STAR.

The little library of texts translated from Greek and Hebrew, known to the
Judeo-Christian tradition as "the Bible," formed the basis for Crowley's own
elementary education, and he recommended these writings to aspirants with
varying interests in qabala, magick, and folk-lore. This month in the lodge's
review of the A A reading list we will be making the first of several stops
at the Bible, beginning with the "great"1 fish story of the reluctant prophet.
The Book of Jonah is one of the shortest books in the Bible, and its
strikingly mythological qualities have made it so stand out from the dreary
monotony of the other "Minor Prophets" that it has entered the folkloric
heritage of peoples all over the globe. (In English we even have the
expression "a jonah" to denote a person whose mere presence brings "bad
luck.") To the Christian interpreters of the Old Testament, Jonah's story of
ordeal and eventual resurgence prefigures the crucifixion, death, and
resurrection of Jesus. Is there anything in these motifs of value to
Thelemites? Join the Section Two discussion group at Oz on the evening of
Monday 23rd September at 8:00 to find out.

Note:
1. The word "great" (Hebrew "gadol" = = 43) is a significantly over-used
adjective in the story of

The John Dee reading group meets on Saturday evening 28th September at 7:30
in the lodge library. With Clay Holden's fine new edition of Dee's
transcripts of spiritual "workings" with Edward Kelly known as Liber Mysteriorum Tertius, we will continue our exploration of the visionary
foundation of the Enochian system.

"Be this thy task, to see how each card springs necessarily from each other card, even in due order from The Fool unto the Ten of Coins. Then, when thou know'st the Wheel of Destiny complete, may'st thou perceive THAT Will which moved it first." When setting this assignment in The Book of Lies (78),
Crowley commented that as usual the wheel is a figure of the universe, "but
the wheel of the Tarot is not only this, but represents equally the Magical
Path. This practice is therefore given by Frater P. to his pupils; to treat
the sequence of the cards as cause and effect. Thence, to discover the cause
behind all causes. Success in this practice qualifies for the grade of Master
of the Temple." The sixth meeting in the Thelema Lodge Tarot series with Bill
Heidrick will be held on Wednesday evening 18th September in San Anselmo at
7:30. Having completed our overview of the deck, the series continues with
focus on specific cards and topics, with the instructor open to suggestions at
the close of each meeting for the following month's subjects. In addition,
the sessions will close with sample readings of various kinds, responding to
questions solicited from those attending. The September meeting will present
a discussion with slides on the Empress, Emperor and Hierophant Trumps. A
Tree of Life reading Layout will also be featured. For information, call Bill
ahead of time at (415) 454-5176.

Therefore come you and obey your creation,

visit us in peace and comfort.

Conclude us as receivers of your mysteries: for why?

Our Lord and master is all One.

-- from the Fifth Angellic Key

On Saturday evening 21st September at 8:00, the Enochian Liturgy project
presents another scrying workshop, this time oriented around the Fifth Angelic
Key. All who have an interest in crystal gazing, astral projection, or
angelic magick are welcome. As always, bring a notebook and loose fitting
clothes. Since we will be sitting still for at least half an hour, consider a
sitting cushion as well.

Lodge business and scheduling, along with proposals for new projects,
classes, and study groups, are discussed and coordinated at the monthly lodge
luncheon meeting, which will be held on Sunday afternoon 8th September, 12:30
to 2:30 in the temple kitchen. Call ahead and let us know if you would like
to be included, so that the meal can be prepared efficiently.

Thelema lodge maintains an outstanding library of materials relating to
Thelema, the life and work of its principal prophet Aleister Crowley, and the
progress of the O.T.O. and related groups in the establishment of the new
aeon. The library facilities are available by appointment to members of the
Order and to friends of the lodge. We offer "library nights" on the schedule
each month as suggested dates on which such arrangements might be most easily
made with the lodge officers. Other dates may sometimes be available by
request, and occasionally the "library night" dates may be rearranged
accordingly, or superseded by other lodge projects (such as the mailing of
this newsletter, toward the end of each month). This month the suggested
dates are Tuesday evening 10th September and Wednesday evening 25th September,
from 8:00 until 10:00. Please make advance arrangements with the lodge
officers to confirm these dates.

Sirius Oasis meeting Monday evening 30th September at 8:00 in Berkeley.
This independently-chartered body of Ordo Templi Orientis performs initiations
and observes the cycle of the Thelemic year with celebrations, rituals, and
gatherings both scheduled and spontaneous. To attend the regular monthly
Oasis meeting, contact the master at (510) 527-2855 for directions and
information.

Crowley Classics

Aleister Crowley's name appears on the title page of a privately printed volume which was distributed from Washington DC in 1916 e.v., under the title
A Prophet in His Own country: Being the Letters of STUART x, to many men on
many occasions. Crowley was hired by Henry Clifford Stuart and credited as editor, and as writer of the introduction and some brief notes of commentary. (Crowley probably also prepared the index, which is extensive and interestingly organized.) As this material has never been available since its original private publication, some of Crowley's more extensive and self- explanatory comments upon Stuart's individual items have been collected here as an appendix to our presentation of Crowley's introductory article on Stuart in these pages earlier this summer.

The Stuart volume is composed of over 190 numbered items, most of which are presented without any additional commentary. About 20% of them are followed by Crowley's notes, and a few others have added notes by Stuart himself. The 22 comments selected here comprise the majority of Crowley's editorial additions to Stuart's work. Most of the other 16 omitted comments are brief notes of only two or three lines, meaningless without an extended summary of the items to which they refer. Brief summaries of the items to which these selections refer are given in italic type immediately preceding Crowley's comments, identified here, as they are in the original volume, by the initials "A.C."

We were very interested this past month to receive from Frater Numa of the O.T.O. in Australia a previously unknown presentation of the text of Crowley's "introduction." The article had been typed out by Karl Germer in New Jersey and sent to Dr. Krumm-Heller in the 1950s e.v. In an apparent attempt at humor, Germer retitled the piece "The Man that Put the O.K. in Book," and offered it as a sample product of the fancy new Remington electric typewriter he had recently borrowed for use in preparing Crowley's more substantial writings for publication. (The Germer typescript presents those substantial variants in the text of the essay.)

Selected Commentary
upon the Writings and
Opinions of Stuart x

by Aleister Crowley

Section 1

"The Dollar"

4. An eight-page dialogue in free verse (or "outline" form) between "Mr Stuart" and "Prof. Fisher," regarding the ideas of price, cost, and property, of which the final speech by Stuart concludes with

"... man not only has always failed

to fix things himself

but has never yet found anything fixed,

nor does his vision,

roam where it will

in Heaven or Earth,

find anything fixed; --

All is flux --

The very tombstones fail to fix the 'Dead.'"
A.C.: This argument is extraordinarily subtle and profound, and cuts at the
roots of the matter of exchange. The triumphant conclusion in the Panta Rei
of Heraclitus stamps this dialogue as great literature.

6. A long letter dated 9 May 1913 in opposition to the gold standard, based upon the conviction that "the concept of 'value' is inseparable from labor."
A.C.: A magnificent demonstration of the impossibility of using anything
valuable as a means of exchange. One is reminded of the proverb: You cannot
eat your cake and have it too.

7. A brief letter of 12 May 1913 proposing nationalization of the banks, because "the Bankers are rapidly coming to monopolize the means for exchange which once belonged to the people, thereby directly controlling their activities."
A.C.: Here attention is called to the trouble created by the fact that the
possessor of wealth in whatever form cannot mobilize his resources at any
desired moment owing to his lack of a medium of exchange. Under the present
system he is not credited even with what he possesses -- for this reason the
possession of money has come to imply wealth. A man with immense resources
may starve unless he can realize them immediately; but money is accounted
wealth because it can immediately and without question be exchanged for
whatever commodity is required. And since the proportion of dollars to the
amount of business done is as one to sixty or thereabouts, the man with the
dollar can disorganize the business of the world and inflate the value of his
perfectly worthless bill still further by merely threatening to withhold it
from circulation.

10. Notes on "currency 'Reform'" dated 4 June 1913, the final paragraph of which argues that "it was not 'luxury' that killed Rome but that for which luxury was the symbol -- slavery at the other end," leading to unwieldy concentration of wealth in the hands of a few large owners. He concludes that "the only safe cities in this land today are those where the common people own their homes . . . . The others will be wiped out when the class-war strikes us."
A.C.: The note of warning sounded in the last paragraph of this letter
deserves the most careful consideration.

14. A short letter of 12 October 1913, condemning bankers for abuse of money, which "the people want and must have" as a "means for exchange," in order to monopolize it "as a means for enslaving the world."
A.C.: This very acute criticism of the gold standard should be final. It is
absurd for the banker to demand gold and at the same time to complain of over-
production. It must be obvious to every one who thinks for a moment that the
only reason that this is desired, or rather, that people pretend to desire it,
is because it is unattainable. Unless there were artificial restrictions,
there could be no trouble. Every one in the world is really rich. Poverty
has been created deliberately by holding up the means of exchange.

17. A brief article dated 11 August 1914, rejected by the financial editors of several periodicals, angrily complaining of the war-time controls over stock-trading.
A.C.: It is amazing how pungent and acute is this criticism. It exposes
completely the hypocrisy of the governments. No destruction of wealth takes
place when stocks fall to a tenth of their former prices, and yet everybody
acts as if something terrible had happened. It may be answered that I am
committing a husteron proteron, that it is because of some terrible happening
that the stocks decline in value. True. But if so, why attempt to conceal
the fact? You do not alter it by an arbitrary suspension of business. Even
calamities become no worse by being boldly faced.

21. A letter of 29 November 1914 to the British Prime Minister Lloyd George.
A.C.: A splendid piece of satire with a core to it. The opening of the war
was the greatest opportunity the world has ever seen for wiping out sham values. And if Mr Lloyd-George had had the sense to listen to Mr Stuart, it
might have been done.

23. Letter of 23 January 1915 to E. E. Pratt, Foreign Bureau Chief in the Department of Commerce, pointing to past oppression caused by monetary injustice. "The best English blood, today, comes from the red-blooded 'law'- made 'felons' she expatriated. At home, aside from the oppressors, there are naught but starveling runts. This is the English 'System' -- She eats her own."
A.C.: Here we begin to see how capitalism, in the bad sense, has not merely
enslaved the people, but threatens to ruin the race.

34. A very brief statement, dated 27 April 1915, on the financial fiction of demanding gold for paper money.
A.C.: A valuable note of warning. The governmental method is to issue demand
notes, with the proviso that if it should ever be inconvenient to meet the
demand, the law may be suspended or abrogated. At the slightest hint of a
crisis this step is threatened. As governments depend ultimately on the
confidence of the people, it is a mistake to "woo them with honest trifles and
betray them in deepest consequence."

Section 2

"China"

37. An extensive report on Chinese and international financial challenges, purportedly related to a meeting of Sun Yat-sen and "the younger statesmen of New China," warning against the complexities of international capitalization and financial management for China.
A.C.: This letter contains the wisest advice ever given to a country. It
seems possible at the moment of present writing that the Chinese, who after
all are the wisest people on earth, may take it.

38. A long "open letter" to Dr. Sun Yat-sen (dated 16 June 1913), a copy of which Stuart mailed to President Wilson, and managed to have inserted into the
Congressional Record for 13 September of that year, on the careful management by China of foreign loans.
A.C.: If Dr Sun Yat-sen be wise, he will act on this when he comes to power.
He could hardly do better than make Mr Stuart financial adviser to his
government.

Section 3

"The War"

52. A letter of 7 October 1914 to British diplomat Sir Cecil Spring-Rice on finance as "the power of reaping where ye have not sown," and the risks of trusting "Mr J. Pierpont Morgan, Jr., and his associates" with the administration of war-time bonds.
A.C.: Note that this letter was written prior to Mr Morgan's appointment as
Agent for Britain.

One of the most prominent bankers in New York said the same thing in
private conversation, only the other day, to the editor of these letters.
They know better than any one that borrowing leads to ruin. Those who
financed the Allies are their worst enemies.

71. A brief note dated 29 November 1915, which reads in full: "Every 'civilization' that has 'passed' has met its doom through 'law and order' -- the vain effort of the oppressors of the day to maintain the then existing order; -- Whence the bloody violence of 'God,' who suffers no 'order' but CHANGE!"
A.C.: One of the profoundest metaphysical points ever made. The old tendency
to regard the movement of the universe as a kind of accident -- the distinction
between matter and motion -- must be abandoned. Matter without motion, or
being without form, means nothingness. It is very remarkable that this
doctrine, which has been taught in secret to the highest initiates for
centuries, should be discovered independently by one who has no formal
initiation.

75. A short note dated 5 January 1915 on the violence of war and the Anglo- Saxon use of the word "shocking."
A.C.: It is really a very remarkable fact that the idea which Anglo-Saxons
express by the word "shocking" does not exist in the psychology of any other
race. Only the Anglo-Saxon has built a wall against idea.

Section 4

"Aunt Margery" [Woodrow Wilson]

76. A complementary letter to "Governor Wilson" of New Jersey, dated 1 July 1912, on integrity and political success, including the question "Can it be that a Man shall refuse all deals with the political spawn of Belial -- and survive?"
A.C.: If there by any blind spot in the eye of the prophet, it is that "last
infirmity of noble mind" surviving even the desire for fame, of believing that
any man is strong enough to work within any existing system without being
corrupted by it. No. The only possibility of the establishment of
righteousness lies through revolution.

78. A letter to President Wilson, dated 7 August 1913, on relations with Spanish-speaking countries, with a postscript comparing government by "revolutions in Spanish-America" with the U.S. election system.
A.C.: Special attention should be paid to the broadmindedness of paragraph
one of the post-script. The ordinary mind is quite incapable of understanding
that the methods of election and revolution are only local variations. But
can the American people change their government by election? Is Mr Morgan
dependent on majorities? It will take more than an election to pull him from
his throne.

88. A letter of 11 June 1914 to Wilson in the White House, complaining of Latin American policy and "secrets . . . . in the matter of Canal Tolls."
A.C.: It is true that government under Wilson has become more secret than it
ever was in Venice under the Council of Three. Who is there among the
ordinary classes of the people, that understands the reasons for non-
intervention in Mexico, or connects them with the activities of Franz von
Rintelen?

Wilson went into power, in all probability, imagining that the government
of the country bore at least some more or less definite relation to the
Constitution. It is the natural idea which a university professor would have.
It was probably very bitter to him to discover that he was really in the hands
of the money-trust. Had he been a Cromwell, he would have called the
financiers together for a conference, shot them without more ado, and
proceeded to remedy the situation. But he was only a spavined old hack, and
had to acquiesce, with a more or less bad grace.

90. A letter of 28 June 1914 to Wilson on financial promotion of the Mexican Revolution, "Currency Reform," etc., concluding with "The honorable thingwould be for you to resign, but such is your unfortunate position that you cannot resign, in that your successors are more incompetent still."
A.C. The idiocy of the policy of "Watchful Waiting" has by this time become
apparent. The impunity enjoyed by first outrages leads of course to
presumption. The Germans immediately took advantage of the situation, to
induce Mexican troops to perform acts which should force America into war; and
Washington, aware that this is the game, has its hands tied. If the murder of
the first American had been followed up by marching to Mexico City and hanging
about 500 people, there would have been no further trouble. At the present
moment, January 1916, if Mexico were positively to declare war and invade the
United States, it would hardly be possible to resist. So much more valuable
is the invisible, spiritual thing, prestige, than all the dollars in the
universe.

Section 5

"Miscellaneous"

98. A note dated 22 January 1911 on the limitations of human sight and the immature development of "our spiritual natures," containing the speculation "May it not be that 'The Heavens' are right before us in plain sight, were our organs only suitable for seeing them? When we do see them it will be through the spiritualization of the faculty of sight."
A.C.: There is an extraordinary resemblance between the author of these
letters and William Blake; which extends not only to the quality of the
vision, but to their styles. There is the same curious difficulty about
reading them, a sort of feeling that one is uncertain of the real meaning of
the thought. And this is not a mere question of the connotation of the words
used; it is a sort of fundamental misgiving as to whether one's mind is
sufficiently in tune to be able to apprehend. If there be anything in the
theory of re-incarnation, it is a good bet that Mr Stuart is William Blake
come back.

114. Notes dated 17 January 1914 listing future inventions and sociological developments, such as colored sky-lights, "nurseries for adults" with playrooms of special toys, and underground meditation rooms "away from surface vibrations."
A.C.: A most splendid and practical idea. If I may do a little bit of
prophesying myself, it is this; that the Turkish bath of the day to that of
the future is as the old dandy-horse of 1820 to the modern motor cycle.

116. Notes dated 13 May 1914 on the relations between thinking, thought, and silence.
A.C.: Nearly all the letters in this section may be regarded almost in the
light of dope. They are injections, in minute form, which can revolutionize
the whole contents of the mind. Each letter should be taken separately,
committed to memory, and brooded over while life lasts.

129. Notes dated 16 April 1914 on the efficiency of thinking upon Sunday, away from "the grating of the ill-fitting wheels of 'the system.'"
A.C.: The editor here regrets to part company with his author. In his own
case, the universal misery caused by the suppression of all natural instincts
and enjoyments, by the operation of sabbatarianism, reacts upon him, fills him
with wretchedness, and paralyzes his energies. Even in Paris there is a
sufficient number of people, deliberately destroying their own happiness, to
vitiate the atmosphere.

An Enochian Thelemic Mandala

Fr. Deus Vult, master of Hodos Chamelionis Camp in the Sacramento area has provided us with this delightful image. The rim has an Enochian translation of "Do what thou wilt" as "Gnay fafan gameganza", while the center is composed of the Enochian letters which transliterate "NUIT". Done in the manner of the Sufis.

from the Grady Project:

The Lamp of the Spirit

Cat Head Goddess, Lion of Light

Thy whirlpool pulls all things to Thee

To fire the Beacons of Thy Night

And justify Duality.

Angel Star

Angel bright

Angel glowing fiery light

Angel far

Angel folie

Angel burning hot and holy

The Negative attracts the norm,

Black Space is vacuum to the Soul;

Reflected Light has stirred the storm

And lightning Arrows to Its goal.

Angel Star

Angel bright

Angel glowing fiery light

Angel far

Angel folie

Angel burning hot and holy

-- Grady L. McMurtry

8/24/61

Written in correspondence with the Aeon trump (Atu XX) in the Book of Thoth,
this poem was originally published in McMurtry: Poems (London & Bergen:
O.T.O., 1986 e.v.), then in The Grady Project #4 (December 1988 e.v.). The
French word folie means madness, folly, or mania.

An Introduction to Qabalah

In Geburah the problem becomes one of trying too hard. Consider the
Polynesian myth of Maui pulling the world out of the great Ocean. This cannot
be a worthwhile activity for most people -- you can't pull the world out of the
sea of confusion. Perhaps only all of human kind in their concerted effort
over the ages would be able to do something like that. In Geburah the flaw is
of being too forceful, much like the Qlipot of Hod. Instead of Hod being too
rigid, Geburah is more active in trying to force change externally. If you
want to improve yourself, improve your lasting conception of life, it's the
function of Geburah to do that. If you find that some things you do seem
better and some worse, you can make a moral decision regarding your own
conduct. If you try to take a personal set of moral decisions and apply them
uniformly in all places it's like trying to raise the world in one single
chunk. Parts of it are going to fall off and you will break yourself trying.
That form of morality is impossible. One should not make absolute judgments
about oneself or other people. These sorts of decisions can be useful as
experiments in Hod. If applied with full Geburah will to change the whole
core of life, such rigid patterns taken to excess tear chunks out of life and
lead to obsessions with immorality.

Consider the expulsion of Loki by Thor and a few other of the Norse gods.
All Loki did was a little bit of a practical joke, and the other deities
didn't take that kindly. Loki is the trickster god of Norse mythology. He's
a little like a crazed Mercury. Some people associate him with the Christian
devil in the sense of mucking up things. In another sense he is Pan as an
ungovernable nature force. The Geburah mind can be too severe and is prone to
condemn any variation from an arbitrary standard.

Consider the princess of the demons who tried to seduce Rama, in the Hindu
pantheon. She was turned down somewhat too abruptly and took great offense.
For revenge, she called all the demons together to descend upon the god.
Geburah is the state of mind that directs improvements, but it is hard to
learn to do this subtly. As soon as you get what seems to be the right idea,
or the proper way of doing things, memory goes out the window. Patient
explanation and tolerance are required to interest others, to lead along the
path of mind that reached the positive idea for you. Where these skills and
virtues are lacking, one tends to forge violently ahead, condemning anyone who
has another opinion or simply doesn't follow the reasoning. This is a flaw of
Geburah -- trying to apply too much, too soon and too strongly.

There is an ultimate flaw associated with Geburah, the flaw of meddling.
The death of Socrates illustrates this, coupled with stubbornness. Socrates,
although a great and learned man, had a little problem with trying to bug
anyone who was walking around the streets of Athens. He loved to get in
complex arguments with people, with the goal in mind of leading them to the
point that they didn't know what they were talking about. In the end, he was
accused of undermining the morals of the youth of the city. Socrates refused
to gain freedom by compromising his principals of always obeying the law. He
died of his own poison. Socrates is considered a very remarkable person, as
anyone who has attained Geburah for a time will tend to be. He lacked
immortal detachment, the quality approached in Chesed. This failing
undermines the ultimate effect of anyone who has attained only to the Geburah
quality. It is necessary to be able to set aside rigid rules if one is to go
on to Chesed.

Primary Sources

Frying Pan to Fire: Karl Germer, Grand Treasurer General of the OTO at the time of this letter and later Crowley's successor as OHO of OTO, had problems understanding the classification "Enemy Alien" while living in the USA during WWII. Although this term simply meant that he was a US resident expatriate of a country with which the United States was at war, he took it personally. Apparently he never put two and two together, not realizing that peremptory notices, monitoring and questions regarding sensitive matters were normal. In his case, contact overseas with Crowley (MI5 connections and a history of German involvement), contact in the USA with Jack Parsons (engaged in classified research on the JATO) and sundry other connections would bring this sort of attention.

It must have been particularly hard on Germer to have questions brought by the FBI regarding correspondence with Crowley. Germer had spent many months in Nazi concentration camps for that very reason. In his later years, he became morbidly suspicious of everyone and everything. Here is a letter from Karl Germer to Max Schneider, recounting an unsettling interview.

K.J.Germer
133 West 71st Street
New York, N.Y.

---

ENDICOTT 2-6799

August 14, 1943.

Dear Max,

93,

As I had to take enclosed letter home anyway to add this
note for Betty, I might as well refer to one more matter.

About four weeks ago I got a note from the FBI: commanding me to appear
forthwith under penalty of internment for the duration if I would fail to do
so. I went at once: I was questioned in presence of a witness about my
antecedents; stays in various countries, grade of acquaintance with A.C.

The man had a typewritten, rather long document of several pages in front of
him. One question was: have you been on the West coast? I said yes. When?
Some 35 or 40 years ago. He said, Oh, I mean recently, during your last stay
in this country. I said No.

It has seemed to me since, that this was really the vital question: there
seems or seemed to be an investigation pending against Agape; they found my
connection and that I am an alien.

Sascha said that immediately after my visit a man called at the door with some
silly pretext asking for me; also that the telephone at home was tapped.

While I have nothing to hide, yet I would like to know whether anything has
happened at 1003 that has caused this investigation. There was something of
which I heard some months ago when Smith was still there. But as things are,
I would like to have a full report with details of charges, if any; result of
the investigation, if any, and if known; if anything is still pending to
Jack's knowledge.

I should really have written this to Jack, but the letter to him was in the
letter box, so I am enclosing it to you, please discuss the matter with him.

93 93/93

Love,

{Signed} Karl

P.S. Also the censor rang me up this afternoon because of a cable I sent
yesterday to A.C. All kinds of, I must confess, silly questions were asked: I
had cabled $100 in advance because of a cable by A.C. They wanted to know
from whom they were, whether from California or whom else; what "three
sections" meant (of Liber 132); what Liber 132 meant; what "stop" meant -- No,
I apologize, this is my mistake, they seemed to know this. What "Disquieting"
meant; what "Distressing" meant; what "Unhelpful" meant. -- I did not have my
dictionary at hand to give them the definitions; but I was in a good humor,
and apparently satisfied them.

From the Outbasket

Here are some edited bits from responses to August email:

AR of St.Petersburg, Russia, asked about Time and Crowley's opinion of it.

Time is an interesting illusion, a very complex one too. Mechanical
devices can measure rhythmic changes and serve as clocks, but the human
perception of time is not by regular duration and sequence. Different states
of mind have different rates of time, and it would appear that one can
experience several different rates of time simultaneously -- something easily
seen when an old friend visits after long absence. It's as though the last
meeting with that person resumes as if the intervening years never passed. It
is possible in certain meditative states to experience a slowing, speeding up
and even a stoppage or reversal of time. The human brain seems to measure
time in such a way that we see it accumulating, or moving in one direction.
Philosophically, there is no reason to consider time to be other than a
direction of measurement, like any other dimension, including the three
dimensions of space.

Crowley apparently experienced similar things and considered that time
itself was not meaningful beyond the Abyss on the Tree of Life.

CW of South Africa expressed confusion over the terms: X°, OHO and Caliph.

OHO = Outer Head of the Order = Frater Superior -- International head of the
OTO, -- only one at a time.

X° = Supreme and Holy King -- always at least one, but can be as many as
there are OTO national provinces.

Caliph = Crowley's picked successor line as OHO of OTO -- until March of
this year, this individual was also serving as X° in the USA. At that time a
new X° was created for the USA, and the Caliph continued to govern as the
International Head of OTO.

From another quarter, Mu, the mysterious, asked about the history of the word "Caliph" in OTO, mentioning PK's strange WWW site.

Crowley originated the application of the term to OTO. It is from Islam,
being a formal title of authority in that religion descended from a lateral
line of the relations of Mohammed, after failure of direct descendants.
Crowley explained it to Grady McMurtry (Hymenaeus Alpha) in a few letters,
stating that he wished to insure continuation of the headship of OTO by this
means. Crowley told Grady to be ready to assume headship of the OTO in the
event of a failure of Karl Germer to either make a success of leadership or to
name his own successor. To this end, Crowley wrote a series of letters to
Grady, giving him various authorities. Crowley also made somewhat lesser
efforts to alert Frederic Mellinger to the possible need of taking headship of
OTO, but did not give Mellinger any formal letters of authority.

Finally, Crowley wrote to Grady with the instruction that Germer was "the
natural Caliph" and would be A.C.'s direct successor, but that Grady should
continue himself in readiness to succeed Germer. -- This latter
characterization of Germer as "Natural Caliph" is different from the Islamic,
indirect line, usage. The present OHO descends by charter and procedure from
Hymenaeus Alpha, hence he is also known as "the Caliph of OTO".

Mu also wanted to know who worked up the implementation of the OTO Constitution in recent times, and a little of the history of that effort.

The Corporate Articles and Bylaws are amended as we get larger and more
able to implement provisions of the old Constitution. The first set was done
by Grady, James Graeb and myself -- after several partial drafts by others.
That was discussed in Berkeley and shared with others. It was minimal, being just enough to make the OTO stand as a corporation with adequate
identification of its nature.

Additional resolutions were passed over the years to implement the
Constitutional provisions as regulations under the Bylaws -- at open meetings
of the board of directors, mainly in Berkeley and attended by anyone who
wanted to come at the published dates and times, OTO members or not. We had
constitutional study committees all over the place, not only in different
states but outside the USA as well. During part of that time, I mailed a copy
of Crowley's Intimations... to every II° degree with the letter of
congratulation on initiation. Sometimes the discussion got a little hot.
There was a bit of fisticuffs in New York over it, when S. influenced some OTO
members to walk out of the OTO over a biased argument about the Constitution.
A couple of OTO members who were on the side of the Constitution were roughed
up in open meeting. Discussions in Southern California went more smoothly,
leading to several good ideas with less confrontation.

By the mid 1980's and Grady's Greater feast, a lot of this had been worked
out. We had reached the point of activating the Electoral College in the USA
and were experimenting with what proper business it could successfully handle.

Under Hymenaeus Beta, the Bylaws underwent an extensive re-write, absorbed
many of the resolutions previously passed during that eight year experimental
approach and brought in most of the functional details of the rest of the old
Constitution of 1917 -- to the extent the civil law and practical circumstances
allowed. That included details of governing bodies and sections of the OTO
still pending, along with conditions for implementation when those could be
activated.

From that time to this, there have been additions, many of them intended to
deal with the integration of the EGC and management of international v.
national OTO structure. This year there was another major revision, with
additional details to implement the structural separation of the international
OTO from the largest national subsegment -- the latter becoming the US Grand
Lodge and having it's own parallel Articles and Bylaws.

In brief, we have been working on it for almost 20 years, with involvement
(whether they know it or not) of every member of the OTO -- at least by record
of what works and what doesn't work in various situations as they develop. I
can't give an accurate estimate of the number of persons who directly
contributed to the language of the thing, but it would be at least a couple of
hundred. It's not done yet, but very far along the way. Not all of the
details end up in the Bylaws. Safety during ritual, for example, is placed in
the initiator's manual. Detailed regulations and procedures for handling
records and dues usually are worked out to suit changing conditions, either
through resolutions of the Councils or by the officers in charge.

MM in the UK asked for a general character of the tenets of Thelema.

In simple, Thelema is a good deal like Buddhism. There are levels of
thought compatible with it, from belief in literal gods to a form of rarefied
atheism. The primary tenet is that each person has a reason for existence and
that only the individual can discover that reason or "True Will" for him or
herself. We have a sort of "default pantheon", a version of the Egyptian
deities, but all religions are considered true up to the point that some of
what they understand is valid. Our holy book is called Liber AL vel Legis or
The Book of the Law -- it is considered to be a matter for individual
interpretation, some viewing it as a direct and literal revelation while
others consider it a mixed hyperbole with a lot of personal bias.

OTO is one particular Thelemic organization, with characteristics and
limitations. There are many others.

WC of Canada asked for a bit of help understanding Crowley's references to the Lust and Adjustment Atu's, remarking that the numbers 8 and 11 seem to be applied differently to those Trumps in several Crowley texts.

This mix-up can be traced to the Order of the Golden Dawn. To get a better
match between Libra-Lamed-Justice and Leo-Tet-Strength in Tarot, using the
Sepher Yetzirah correspondences between Hebrew letters and Astrology, the
Golden Dawn writers switched the usual numbers on the Tarot Trumps of Strength
and Justice. The traditional order is Strength (Thoth Lust Trump) XI and
Justice (Thoth Adjustment Trump) VIII. Crowley restored the traditional Roman
numerals on the cards themselves, but liked the sequence with those two cards
reversed in the Golden Dawn approach. This led to the mix-up in numbers in
different texts Crowley wrote. Sometimes he refers to the traditional
placement and sometimes to the Golden Dawn placement of these two cards.
Usually the context will make it clear as to which is which, but not always.

MC in South Africa is hot on the trail of a lost bit of OTO history. It seems
that there is a wine producing farm in that country, called Thelema. On his
enquiry, it turned out that the present owners, McLean Family Trust, bought
the old farm "Thelema" in the mid 1980's e.v. from John Kidson, born on the
farm in 1916 e.v. The present owners market an upscale wine under the name of
the place and have heard stories from locals that the farm once belonged to
"some German satanistist organisation" in the old days. That sounds like a
public misconception of the kind people would have about OTO at that time.
Thomas Windram was the OTO head in SA, with a charter from Crowley to operate
the Order of Thelema in the 1920's. Who knows? Maybe the Gnostic Mass will
one day be celebrated with genuine "Thelema" wine from the old plantation -- if
anybody can come up with 32 Rand per bottle and a way to get it from one place
to another!

Late developments suggest that this may not connected to an OTO presence
after all, but it remains an interesting possibility.